Category Archive

Are advertisers using your microphone to spy on you? We’re all used to targeted advertising by now. If you Google a product, or read about a subject, you’re likely to get ads based on your preferences and search history. It’s a gray area morally, but at least they can be helpful occasionally. So while it’s annoying, we generally give consent for coies without much further thought. It’s a sad fact of life, but we’ve become desensitized to the ads. After all, nothing on the internet is completely free. However, accessing …

Netflix, one of the biggest streaming services in the world, has always been applauded for its largely pro-customer approach. Ever since its launch, the entertainment company has allowed users to their login details with family and friends. In fact, they introduced a profile feature so that the content viewed by other users has no impact on the recommendations or viewing history of the primary r. Desiring Full Access They never cared about customers accessing Netflix from different parts of the globe. Who, in fact, for years, spoofed their actual …

Jeff Sessions, President Trumps new Attorney General for the United States, has recently shown that he supports an encryption backdoor. President Trump seems to support this as well, lambasting Apple when the company wouldn’t unlock an iPhone for the FBI. What Is An Encryption Backdoor? A backdoor is any method, usually secret, that bypasses the usual authentication process in a product, computer system, cryptosystem or algorithm. In encryption, a backdoor would mean that agencies like the NSA could design an encryption algorithm in such a way that they could easily …

Recently, Apple website 9To5Mac published a feature request article; the author suggested that Apple should build an iOS VPN network and VPN app for iPhone. However, is this a good idea? Apple’s VPN on iPhone is Very Bad for Privacy Last year Google released an Android feature called Wi-Fi Assistant. It lets Android customers use Google’s free VPN service when they connect to insecure public Wi-Fi hotspots. However, on iOS, Apple users do not have this option. Instead, they have to buy VPN service from a third-party. 9To5Mac author Greg …

Using a virtual network provider (VPN) is important if you want to protect your privacy. Still not using one yet? Here are some reasons why you should. Further Reading Is It Illegal To Use a VPN? Proxy vs. VPN: What’s the difference? 1. Staying safe on public Wi-Fi Public Wi-Fi practically blankets the landscape today. It’s also insecure to use. Using public Wi-Fi should only be the last measure or emergency. Maybe you need to fire off a quick e to the boss, and you are out of cellular data. …

Lo around you. Walls, floors, computers, mugs, people. It’s all confined to a particular spectrum, good old visible light. But what about the rest of the spectrum? This post on Quora proposes a thought experiment where the visible colors (the rainbow) on the spectrum are stretched to cover the entire gray bar you see below. Although adamant that this is impossible Inna Vishik describes the new total coverage as loing like this: Everyone would be the same color (except for people with a fever) (infrared–>yellowish). Also, you would be able …

VPNs are really bloody useful. We’ve covered a similar topic, the types of people who could use them, but using something for the first time can be a hard thing to do. Especially if the service in question doesn’t substantially change anything. A smoothly functioning VPN should be almost indistinguishable from a non-VPN routed internet connection. Free VPNs require a warning The answer to this problem for some people is to lo for a free service. VPNs are not created equally; however, there are different levels of security and privacy. …

I had to double-check the date on this post. ‘I wrote “ISIS Beer Funds!!!” in a Venmo Memo and the Government Detained My $42,’ April 6, nothing wrong there. Ben Guarino had his $42 of beer money transaction nabbed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. OFAC are a bit of an economic hit squad for enemies of the state. They seem a bit wild and their prioritization of Cuba archaic in light of recent events. In February 2016 the French geoscience company, CGG France, agreed to settle a case …

Egypt! Check out A -through-D at the bottom. Egypt has undergone a tumultuous transformation in the last five years. The current President Fatah Al-Sisi represents a snap back to the strongman politics of the 20th century using 21st-century techniques to quell dissent. Profile Egypt is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. History in the country dates back to the 10th millennium BC. Being around for so long means that the country has a range of influences including Greek, Persian, Roman, Arab, Ottoman, and European. Islam has been the …

Azerbaijan, Brazil, Cuba and now Denmark. Bring a coat. Denmark This Scandinavian country has some of the highest living standards in the world, one of the lowest Gini coefficients (a measure of inequality), and guess what- they pay some of the highest personal income tax rates too. The majority of Danes live a pretty satisfied life. Lego is headquartered there for crying out loud. Being part of the European Union but not part of the Euro has insulated Denmark from much of the global economic troubles- although I tend to …